La Caire - Vallon de la Toussière

Date of your route : Jul 09, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

The hike starts from the village of Lus, which adds about an hour (round trip) of very pleasant walking through the woods (GR).
The walk itself is almost entirely shaded, which is welcome at this time of year.
The downside is that the views are limited.
The descent is gentle for older legs, except for a steep and stony section after point 5.

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Date of your route : Aug 26, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant and easy "family" walk, with beautiful views and points of interest (ruins). I did it in very wet weather (after rain and thunderstorms): be careful, in this case, it is very slippery on the stony climb, and the clay sticks to your shoes on the rest of the route.

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Date of your route : Aug 18, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hike done with children aged 7 and 10. Path through woods or in the shade, making it ideal for hot weather.
You do need to pay attention at point number 5 and make sure you don't miss the fork to the right to go back down to the car park.

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Date of your route : May 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant hike on our way back. A peaceful, bucolic route with spring flowers. Superb views of Le Dévoluy. Like everyone else, we almost missed the turn-off at point 5. The sign for "La Caire" is upside down! That's awful!!!

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Date of your route : Aug 18, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike in a wild and historic site featuring the Templar commandery, known since 1155 through the charters of the Durbon Charterhouse.
It's a shame to leave this chapel in a state of neglect, perhaps because of the difficulty of accessing it for renovation work?
On the way back, there are beautiful views of the Toussière valley; the ruins of the hamlet of Toussiérette bear witness to a harsh past for the inhabitants.
I can confirm that the climb is moderately difficult. At point 5, follow Fergabal's directions carefully.
I found the distance to be 6.5 km, which took 1 hour and 55 minutes to complete.
We had a pleasant morning without rain.

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Date of your route : May 01, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful route for a relatively short circular route, with varied landscapes and settings, and fairly sustained climbs and descents. (The mountain bike route is probably "black").
Please note: point 5 is unclear. There isn't really a "fork" but rather a fairly narrow path that descends steeply at a right angle to the right, opposite a sign indicating "small pass altitude 1100m".
There is no sign for "La Caire" but there is a mountain bike signpost for No. 63. Do not continue along the main path towards "La Meyrie".

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Date of your route : Mar 18, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Circular completed on the afternoon of 18 March 2021. It had snowed for the previous two days.
When crossing the Étroit stream for the first time, it is not easy to find the right path.
What a sight the Templar ruins are! The climb under the snow-laden trees is magnificent, but before reaching the highest point, the slope is steep and the heavy snow makes the final stretch difficult.
The descent to La Caire is very steep. We completed this hike in 2 hours and 15 minutes. It's a shame the sky was grey and overcast, but it's a lovely little hike.

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Hello,

@Lezowski

You can use these recommendations as a guide.

Recommendations for choosing the difficulty level of a hike

See you soon

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I agree to rate the hike as moderate given the elevation gain.

Kind regards

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Date of your route : Aug 28, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A nice little walk at the end of August. Shady almost all the way, which is great in hot weather. The route and the scenery are very pleasant.

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Good evening,

Based on the characteristics of the hike (distance, elevation gain), the Medium rating is justified. Yannick's comments corroborate this assessment.

@ Lezowski: do you agree that we should change the rating of this hike to Medium?

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Thank you for your comments. The "average" rating is indeed subjective. We had probably done a more difficult walk the day before and underestimated the level of difficulty of this one.
Kind regards.

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Date of your route : Jul 14, 2019
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A pleasant walk. The most interesting part of the walk is mainly in the first third: gorges and Templar ruins. After that, it's not unpleasant, but it's more monotonous.
I think it's important to point out that although this walk isn't difficult, there is a steep uphill slope after the Templar ruins and, above all, a descent at the end that is not suitable for walkers. Personally, I would have classified this walk as "moderate" difficulty, but I realise that this is very subjective.
Thank you to the author. Thanks to him, my three 10-year-old grandchildren and I had a very enjoyable afternoon.

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Date of your route : Nov 25, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

Lovely walk, very wet site, do it with the family, to be repeated in spring.

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Date of your route : Sep 17, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Nice hike, lovely discovery.
Reliable route. Peaceful.

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